Can I please have a definitive answer to the damage that a TLT hit does. Is the 1 damage a straight hit off the shields (if the defending ship has any) or does it deal a damage card when cancelling all dice results so in essence going straight through any shields?

The defender suffers one damage on a hit. If they have shields the damage hits those first. Anything that avoids shields tells you to deal a damage card (either face up or face down depending on the effect).

In the game, suffer a damage and being dealt a damage are two very different things. It always pays to have a rules reference close by.

Suffer X damage = shields first

Deal X cards = ignore shields